Texas High’s Jarion Anderson Picks Up Invitation to Southern Illinois

The third offer is in for Texas High's Jarion Anderson.

The receiver, the ETSN.fm Recruiting Combine's Most Valuable Player at his position, confirmed a scholarship opportunity from Southern Illinois on Wednesday via his Twitter account. 

Anderson (5-10 1/2, 165) is just three days removed from running a 4.66 40-yard dash in conjunction with the combine. He also put up the best ladder time in the receivers group with a 10.70-second completion, fourth of all 114 athletes participating in testing at the Accelerated Performance Enhancement Center in Tyler.

The Tigers standout will be visiting Tulsa on Saturday for a Golden Hurricanes' football camp and then will make a short jump to Stillwater, Okla., for Oklahoma State's camp on Sunday.

He entered Wednesday with scholarships from Tulsa and Central Arkansas.

Southern Illinois is an FCS school in Carbondale, Ill., which plays in the stacked Missouri Valley Football Conference. It's the same conference three-time defending FCS national champion North Dakota State belongs to.

The Salukis finished the 2013 season with a 7-5 record and gave Illinois a run for its money in the season opener before ultimately falling, 42-34.

Southern Illinois is headed by Blake Lennon. He made a name for himself on the Division II level with North Dakota prior to the program's jump to the FCS in 2008.

Lennon amassed a 90-28 overall record in eight seasons with North Dakota, won the 2001 national championship and made another championship game appearance in 2003.

He has been with the Salukis since 2008 and has a 42-28 record in addition to two FCS playoff appearances.

Anderson separated himself from very strong East Texas competition Sunday with an attention-grabbing performance in the combine's one-on-one drills at Tyler Lee High School. He's quick, has very good vision for running lanes and is durable.

The receivers' Most Valuable Player also doubles as a safety for the Tigers on Friday nights.